What does dynamite mean?
Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin absorbed into an inert material such as sawdust, moulded into sticks and used widely in mining, quarrying, construction, and demolition. Invented by Alfred Nobel in 1867, it was far safer to handle than liquid nitroglycerin, which had caused many accidental deaths, and quickly became indispensable to heavy industry. Beyond its literal sense, dynamite carries strong figurative weight: something described as dynamite is extraordinarily powerful, exciting, or controversial — 'a dynamite performance', 'political dynamite'. The word can also function as a verb, meaning to destroy something using the explosive. Because of its association with sudden force and danger, the term often connotes volatility as much as strength. It remains one of the most recognisable words in the vocabulary of explosives.
An explosive composed of nitroglycerin absorbed in an inert porous material such as sawdust, usually formed into cylindrical sticks, used chiefly in mining, construction, and demolition.
"They carried crates of dynamite up to the tunnel entrance."
Uncountable when referring to the substance generally; countable when referring to individual sticks ('three sticks of dynamite').
(Informal) Something or someone remarkably powerful, exciting, or controversial.
"That report on government spending is absolute dynamite."
To blow up or destroy using dynamite.
"Retreating troops dynamited the bridge behind them."
Rarely pluralised. As a mass noun, dynamite has no ordinary plural. A rare plural appears only when referring to distinct types or formulations of the explosive.
"Early chemists experimented with several different dynamites before settling on the standard formulation."
Alfred Nobel invented dynamite — then felt so guilty about its destructive uses that his fortune funded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dynamite
Dynamite was coined by Alfred Nobel in 1867 from Greek dynamis, meaning 'power', reflecting its immense explosive force. The root dyn- derives ultimately from the Greek verb dynamai, 'to be able', which also gives us words like dynamic, dynasty, and dynamism. Nobel patented the invention in Sweden and it spread rapidly worldwide as the first safe, manageable high explosive.
Related word forms
How dynamite is actually used
Primarily a noun, but also functions as a verb meaning 'to blow up with dynamite' (e.g. 'they dynamited the bridge'). In informal use, especially American English, calling something 'dynamite' means it's outstanding or powerful. Mass noun for the substance; count noun for individual sticks.
Easily confused with dynamite
TNT is trinitrotoluene, a different chemical explosive entirely — not the nitroglycerin-based material that dynamite actually contains.
Nitroglycerin is the highly unstable liquid explosive that dynamite stabilizes by absorbing it into an inert base.